Death, Demons, and Dora
by Serenity Hart
Summary: Dora and Boots have survived a lot behind the scenes of their show.  But this last episode breaks everything; Dora will never be the same, and Boots... is DEAD! Rated M for character death and abuse.


"!Nos hicimos!" Dora sang loudly.

"We did it!" Boots shouted to the beat. "We did it! Yeah!" he sang along with Dora as they hugged.

"We did it," Dora smiled at the camera. "And we couldn't have done it without your help! Thank you."

"~And cut!" shouted the director from behind the mass of cameras. Dora let out a sigh of relief; they had been filming for almost eight hours without pause, so she had missed out on lunch. But she still had another episode to film, so her break between was going to be short. With Boots in tow, Dora walked all the way back to the crew trailer.

"Hey Dora?" asked the little monkey as he trotted behind his friend.

"Yeah, Boots?" was the little Mexican girls reply as they neared their destination.

"Do you know what sort of adventure they have for us next?" asked Boots.

"Well ,"Dora said after thinking about it, "I don't have a clue."

Just as they reached the trailer, the director called for them. Even though she was usually very cooperative with the staff, Dora hated the director. It wasn't unusual that she ignored him and pulled Boots inside the trailer. Hopefully they could grab some food before the man caught up to them.

As quick as she could, the nine-year-old girl put together a decent sandwich. With the first bite being taken, the show's director entered the trailer and stared her down.

"We need to talk about the next set," the older man ground out.

Dora took her time chewing before answering the man, "sure, start talking."

Boots, as support for his friend, jumped down onto the seat next to hers while he munched on an orange. He knew that Dora didn't like the director, so he was always close by, just in case he showed up.

"Your next adventure is getting to the soccer field. Alana invited you to watch a soccer game. These are your tickets," he stated, sliding two fake tickets across the table.

"What path are you sending us on, this time?" she asked after swallowing.

"Up jumping mountain, and across dribbiling river. Swipper has been seen around the area, so he's likely to steal the tickets."

The director looked at Dora expectantly, but she just kept eating. There wasn't anything that she needed to say anyway. It didn't matter what she said, the man would either ignore her or bring up some sort of reason why her opinions didn't matter. His racism was well masked in front of other people, and behind his 'skills' as a director. However, he clearly favored Kai-Lan to Dora, and he made that apparent every day. Not that she held it against the younger Chinese girl, Dora was a mentor to her. In fact, Kai-Lan once told her that it felt like she was the new doll for the director to play with.

After waiting for a few moments the director gave up on any sort of answer and left, which Dora was glad for. Speaking with him was always unpleasent, she was never able to relax with him around.

After seeing Dora loosen up, Boots turned to her, "you won't have to work with him for much longer."

"Only three more years and I'll be able to be in a teen show," she grumbled.

"Or you can just retire," Boots offered.

"It's worth considering," she smiled before finishing off her sandwich.

Dora wandered back on set, with Boots by her side. Both of them were well greeted by the camera crew, and the sound guy. Since they had all been working together since the start of _Dora the Explorer_, they all knew each other pretty well. It also wasn't very surpring that they all knew the area designated as the _Adventure Property_ like the back of their hands. So when Dora told them the path that she would be taking, they knew just where the openning shot should be taken.

From their current position, they only had to walk for ten minutes, before they were standing in a field with the jumping mountain off to her left, just out of sight from the viewers. Without any sort of preperation, the camera started to film. After five years of the same thing, none of them needed a script to follow.

"Hola, soy Dora," Dora called cheerfully to the camera.

"And I'm Boots," Boots smiled jumping up in the air and waving his arms.

"Can you guess what we're doing today?" the ebony haired girl asked whistfully.

"We're going to a soccer game with Alana!" Boots announced, not giving the children at home enough time to answer.

"That's right," Dora smiled and held out the two tickets, "our friend Alana gave us tickets to a futbol game."

"But Dora, where are we supposed to meet her?"

"I know someone who can tell us. Who do we ask, when we don't know which way to go?" There was a five second pause before she continued, "That's right, the Map! Can everyone help me call Map?"

"Say Map, say Map!" Boots shouted, throwing his arms in the air.

Five seconds. "Louder," Dora called to the audience.

Again, both Dora and Boots, counted to ten in their heads, before they shouted, "louder."

There was a few seconds more of waiting before Dora started to repeat the path to the audience.

"Jumping mountain, Dribbling river, Soccer field," she smiled looking in the three places where the images would be for the audience. "First we have to climb Jumping mountain, then we have to cross the Dribbling river, and that's how we get to the Soccer game!"

"Do any of you see Jumping mountain?" Dora asked, knowing that the cameraman was zooming out to include the rather short mountain into image. With ten seconds gone she turned to look then smiled and threw her arms into the air, saying, "there it is!"

"Come on!" shouted boots as he ran off towards the mountain, with Dora not far behind.

The children at home never saw it, but there were two paths to every location. One, that was gravel or dirt, for the actors to take, and the second one was paved for very smooth camera movement. The cameraman with the trolly started to roll alongside the purple monkey and young girl. All the while, half of the crew members went off to get ready for when they reached the other side of the mountain.

"How was your birthday?" Dora asked after the man behind the camera.

"Meh. I feel kinda old now," he sighed while adjusting the focus.

Dora snorted at this, "thirty-eight _is_ old."

"To _you_," laughed the boom-man. "To a nine year old _all_ adults are ancient."

"That would make you dirt," Boots laughed.

"Nope, he's older," Dora smiled giving Boots a high-five.

"Stop messing around, and start singing," the director shouted, finally showing up.

Dora's good mood plummited as that sharp voice cut through the air. Boots reached up and took his best friends hand, giving it a light squeeze to make sure she was alright. She squeezed back and took a deep breath before skipping to start her run.

"Mountain, River, Soccer game," Dora sang to the camera. "Mountain, River, Soccer game! Come on, Vaminos! Everybody let's go! You know that we can do it! Come on let's get to it! Where are we going?"

"To the soccer game!" Boots shouted doing a cart wheel.

"Where are we going?" Dora flung her arms out.

"To the soccer game!"

"Where are we going?"

"To the soccer game!" Dora and Boots shouted together.

"Woah," Dora said looking up at the 'mountain'.

It had been a while since either of them had gone up the "Jumping mountain". There was a trick to getting up it safely, you had to focus on where your feet were, and where they were going. There were platforms dodging all around the surface, making you have to jump from platform to platform; which is why it had gained the name "Jumping mountain".

"Break!" shouted the director.

Dora let out a sigh of relief as she looked down at her best friend. While the director was telling the cameramen how they were to follow the adventuring duo, Dora and Boots could plan out their own path up.

"What do you think, spiral around or zig-zag?" Dora asked crossing her arms and looking up the 'mountain'.

"Zig-zag would be easier for the cameras. But we haven't done the spiral on camera, yet," Boots pointed out, drawing the paths in the air.

The little Mexican girl 'hm-ed' as she looked at all of the platforms. There were twelve jumps for the full around on both paths, but the spiral would be better.

"Let's take the spiral around," she nodded. "The second to the right?"

Boots looked at the proposed starting point, "what about the first left from the center?"

Dora wasn't entirely sure that would be a good route, but Boots was so supportive of her, that she seemed obligated to agree. With a nod, and a smile they agreed to take the path Boots had pointed out. The two waited silently as the crew was given their orders.

The director turned to the 9-year-olds and cued them to begin.

"We made it!" Dora shouted with her arms flung abover her head.

"But Dora, how are we supposed to get up the mountain?" Boots asked looking at the camera.

"This is Jumping mountain, Boots. We have to jump up the mountain. Tenemos que saltar encima de la montana," she explained to her companion while looking at the camera.

Dora grabbed Boots' hand and turned to the camera, "everyone jump with us."

"First you bend your legs," Dora squated down simultaniously with Boots. "And then... !Salto!"

"Jump!" Boots shouted as they jumped into the air together.

Still hand-in-hand, the duo turned to the first platform and shouted, "Jump!"

With the first jump landed easily the butterflies vanished and they shouted again with every platform cleared. But when they were up on the fifth platform, a familier sound swished through the air. It was Swiper, he was nearby, likely only two platforms away.

"Do you hear that?" Dora asked to the camera. "Swiper!"

"Oh-no Dora, Swiper is going to try to swipe the tickets," Boots announced to the audience at home.

"Will you help us?" a moments pause, "great, you have to say _Swiper no swiping_."

"Swiper no swiping." Dora and Boots turned and began to chant at the approaching fox.

"Swiper no swip-" the fox bandit ran up to Dora and slipped the tickets from her pocket.

Without realizing what was going on, suddenly Dora felt the rushing of air, and then a sharp pain in her arm. She found herself staring down 20 feet to the ground, members of the crew gaping up at her, horror and shock across their features. There was an instant where she was able to look up and see with crystal clarity; Boots had his arm and tail wrapped around her arm while Swiper was gripping his other arm near the shoulder. Suddenly, there was a crunch and a grotesque ripping sound, and she was falling again.

A thud, crunch, and a hefty smack, rang out in the silence. Dora lay with her head and body craddled in the chest of her best friend, floating between pain and unconciousness. Boots, on the other hand wasn't feeling anything anymore. With the last of his strength, the purple monkey forced his eyes open and watched in slow motion as Dora's chest kept moving up and down. Knowing that she was still alive, Boots let his eyes close, and relaxed.

Dora sat, staring at the white blinds with a blank expression on her face. The doctors said that she could leave later that day, but she didn't want to move. The nurse had closed the blinds three days ago, but still she stared. If she even cared a little, Dora would be worried about the pain of finally turning her head in the other direction.

"Miss. Rodriquez," whispered the gentle, yet hawk-like nurse. "Miss. Rodriquez, your parents are here to take you home."

There was a muffled shuffling, as her parents walked into the room. Apparently, they had been expecting her to react, so they stood next to her bed waiting. Quite some time passed before either of them gave up on the chance that their child would acknowledge them. The doctor walked in and her parents went over to whisper about the stoic child.

"It would be much better for her, if you took Dora home and started to care for her there," the doctor informed them. "Her psychological needs are going to be large, so you might have to make sure one of you is awake at all times so that she doesn't commit suicide. You have already hired a personal psychologist, right?"

The doctor waited for them to nod before continuing, "once she starts to move, you'll have to ween her off of the wheelchair. Your nurse will be able to help you with the in and out, but if you don't help Dora might start to distance herself again."

Suddenly there was a ringing in her ears, and the conversation was lost. Dora had been experiencing more and more strange sensations and sounds as her body continued to heal. Her ears would ring at odd times, and sometimes there was a sensation of an arm wrapping around her chest. Other times the feel of Boots hand and tail gripping her arm tight, would be unbarebly real. Everytime she closed her eyes, the image of a Boots, feral and glowing red appeared before her, all the time growing closer.

Her dreams offered little repreave from the frightening visions. Boots jumped from floating rock, to floating rock as he ascended to the top of the swirling green skies. Passing by wisps were consumed by the red boots he was so known for, now seemingly having a life of their own. If there was a world of the dead, the place she was seeing in her sleep was definately it.

While in a state of ignorance, Dora had been placed in the wheelchair and was finally being placed in the small van. When the door slammed shut, a gust of wind blew her hair into her face. With the subsiquent blink, Dora saw again the face of her dead friend. No, Boots was more than just a friend, he was one of the only people she loved.

"I need to..." Dora said in a breathy whisper, "go find him."

"Need to find Dora. _Dora. _**Find her**," Boots murmured as he ascended towards the swirling sky.

Everytime he thought that Dora was finally within his reach, the feeling faded and he needed to climb higher. A phantom was calling to him, just beyond, and Boots needed to get there, no matter what.

"_Dora_!" shouted a voice from inside and out.

"**Save her**!" shouted another voice.

"Need to save Dora," Boots mumbled deeply.

"_**Save Dora**_!" Boots shouted in tandum with the other two voices. "_**SAVE DORA**_!"


End file.
